The Siege of Jerusalem Symbolized
1 "And you, See ch. 2:1son of man, [ver. 3; Jer. 13:1,2]take a brick and lay it before you, and engrave on it a city, even Jerusalem. 2 [2 Kgs. 25:1] And put siegeworks against it, ch. 17:17;21:22;26:8and build a siege wall against it, Luke 19:43and cast up a mound against it. Set camps also against it, ch. 21:22;26:9and plant battering rams against it all around. 3 And you, take an iron griddle, and place it as an iron wall between you and the city; See ch. 21:2and set your face toward it, [Isa. 29:3] and let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it. This is ch. 12:6,11;24:24,27;[Isa. 8:18;20:3]a sign for the house of Israel.
4 "Then lie on your left side, and place the punishment4:4 Or iniquity; also verses 5, 6, 17 of the house of Israel upon it. For the number of the days that you lie on it, ch. 44:10,12;[Lev. 16:22;Isa. 53:11,12]you shall bear their punishment. 5 For I assign to you a number of days, ver. 9390 days, [Num. 14:34] equal to the number of the years of their punishment. [See ver. 4above] So long shall you bear [ch. 23:4,9,10]the punishment of the house of Israel. 6 And when you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and ch. 44:10,12;[Lev. 16:22;Isa. 53:11,12] bear [ch. 23:11,12] the punishment of the house of Judah. [Num. 14:34]Forty days I assign you, a day for each year. 7 See ch. 21:2And you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, Isa. 52:10with your arm bared, and you shall prophesy against the city. 8 And behold, ch. 3:25I will place cords upon you, so that you cannot turn from one side to the other, till you have completed [ver. 9; ch. 5:2]; See 2 Kgs. 25:1-3;Jer. 39:1,2;52:4-6the days of your siege.
9 "And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and emmer,4:9 A type of wheat and put them into a single vessel and make your [1 Kgs. 22:27] bread from them. See ver. 8During the number of days that you lie on your side, ver. 5390 days, you shall eat it. 10 And your food that you eat shall be ch. 12:19;[Jer. 37:21] by weight, ch. 45:12twenty shekels4:10 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams a day; from day to day4:10 Or at a set time daily; also verse 11 you shall eat it. 11 And water you shall drink [See ver. 10above]by measure, the sixth part of a hin;4:11 A hin was about 4 quarts or 3.5 liters from day to day you shall drink. 12 And you shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it See ch. 12:3in their sight on human dung." 13 And the Lord said, "Thus shall the people of Israel eat Hos. 9:3;[Dan. 1:8]their bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them." 14 Then I said, ch. 9:8;11:13;20:49"Ah, Lord God! Behold, I have never defiled myself.4:14 Hebrew my soul (or throat) has never been made unclean[Acts 10:14] From my youth up till now I have never eaten ch. 44:31;[Lev. 7:24] what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has Isa. 65:4;[Lev. 7:18]tainted meat come into my mouth." 15 Then he said to me, "See, I assign to you cow’s dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread." 16 Moreover, he said to me, See ch. 2:1"Son of man, behold, ch. 5:16;14:13;Lev. 26:26I will break the supply4:16 Hebrew staff of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread [See ver. 10above]by weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink water [See ver. 10above]by measure and in dismay. 17 I will do this that they may lack bread and water, and See ch. 3:15look at one another in dismay, and ch. 24:23;33:10;Lev. 26:39rot away because of their punishment.